If Bob Grimm builds a baseball movie article, will you come?
BY BOB GRIMM • BGRIMM@NEWSREVIEW.COM
Baseball season is finally here! Our movie guy picks the best and worst ballpark flicks.
T
he 2015 baseball season has begun, and it’s time to watch some Reno Aces games. It’s also time to bemoan the loss of your closer if you are a New York Mets fan, which I am. So here I go. Thanks a lot, Jenrry Mejia … it’s so totally believable that you have no idea how that performance enhancing drug got into your system, you jackass. Oh, I’m totally buying your sob story. Now go take your mandatory 80 game rest, you big stupid jerk. OK, back on point. I’m a sucker for a good baseball movie. Some of the movies on my below “Best Baseball Movies Ever Made” list also stand among my favorite movies of all time. The Best list is followed by a list of movies that make the sport look lame and unbearable because, as with most things, we need balance, people. Balance.
The best baseball movies 1. The Bad News Bears (1976): Not only a great
film about the game, but one of the greatest movies ever made about kids. I was a kid when this movie played theaters and, trust me, director Michael Ritchie nailed the '70s, crappy mouthed '70s kids, and the rigors of Little League. All of us Little Leaguers knew 18 | RN&R |
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a Tanner Boyle, Amanda Whurlitzer and Kelly Leak growing up. It boasts vintage Walter Matthau as a boozing baseball coach, and it will never get old. 2. Eight Men Out (1988): This one’s a nice chron-
icle of one of the games darker stories, the Chicago White Sox throwing the championship for a payday. John Sayles did a credible job presenting the game while uncorking a great drama. Say it ain’t so, Joe.
3. Field of Dreams (1989): Shoeless Joe Jackson
got a little posthumous redemption in the form of Ray Liotta hanging out in a corn field with this sentimental winner. This is my favorite Kevin Costner baseball movie. Yes, it’s above Bull Durham on this list. I think that admittedly fun movie is more about screwing groupies than the game. 4. Moneyball (2011): Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, the former Mets prospect who crossed over to the executive side of baseball and developed a statisticsdriven, low-cash way to build a ball team. Garnered Jonah Hill a much deserved Oscar nomination. 5. The Natural (1984): My editor hates this movie,
but I’m a big sucker for that baseball going into the light tower at the end and Robert Redford rounding the bases amidst fireworks. It’s corny, but it’s great. My editor is a callous bastard.
6. The Pride of the Yankees (1942): Gary
Cooper plays the great Lou Gehrig, who died of a disease that would bear his name soon thereafter. Some elements of the film haven’t aged well, including Cooper’s obvious lack of baseball ability. However, you can’t beat that final speech, and it’s pretty neat that Babe Ruth plays himself in the flick. He’s actually really good!
7. Bull Durham (1988): OK, after an argument
with Brad, the editor, I’ve decided this film does deserve a place on the list, if only for the scene where Costner’s Crash Davis tips the pitches. Damn, the late '80s were a great time for baseball movies.
8. The Rookie (2002): Based on the true story of
Jim Morris, a high school baseball coach who made it to the big leagues when he was 35, well past the usual debut age for a rookie. Dennis Quaid makes for a credible athlete and the story is a great one; and it’s mostly true.
9. 61* (2001): A great baseball movie made by a big
baseball lover (Billy Crystal directed). It chronicles the controversial pursuit of Babe Ruth’s single season home run record and the stress it put on Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) and Roger Maris (Barry Pepper). It really captures the spirit of the game.
